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October 2014
Chairperson: RAY KINNEY (916) 962-1938
Vice-Chairperson: HARLAN HATFIELD (916) 331-7487
Treasurer: LOU MAUCIERI (916) 421-0844
Membership: BOB THARRATT (916) 635-6154
Newsletter: BILL THARRATT (916) 600-6651
Chaplains: JOHN & DIANNA KENT (916) 361-2627
Programs & Publicity: IRIS TAGGART (916) 834-4412
Volume 14 Issue 10
Next Meeting:
Monday, October 13, 2014
12:00 Noon
Hometown Buffet
4300 Florin Road
off Highway 99 in Sacramento
Last Months Meeting
October Guest Speaker
Chairperson, Ray Kinney, opened the September
Gray Eagles' Vice Chairman, Harland Hatfield, will
2014 meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance and
be our speaker for the October meeting. Harland
salute to the flag of the United States of America.
will give a presentation on the Gray Eagles website
Treasurer, Louis Maucieri reports the current
and on his Air Force career . Harland joined the Air
treasury is $945.10 : Membership Chair, Bob
Force in 1959, at age 19, in Colorado and served
Tharratt reports we have 61 paid members.
for 20 years, retiring in 1979 at McClellan AFB.
Chaplain Dianna Kent offered the invocation.
Harlan served in SAC, PACF, ADC, ATC, & PMEL.
Did You Know ?
Call for Guest Speakers
The Gray Eagles are in need of guest speakers for
future meetings in 2015. Any member that wishes
to give a presentation or may know someone who
would be willing to be a guest speaker, is asked to
contact our Programs & Publicity chairperson,
Iris Taggart (916) 834-4412.
Visit The Gray Eagles Website
w w w. g r a y e a g l e s . n e t
The Gray Eagles wish
Iris “B-17” Taggart
HAPPY BIRTHDAY !
On September 14, 1814, U.S. soldiers at Baltimore’s
Fort McHenry raised a huge American flag to celebrate
a crucial victory over British forces during the War of
1812. The sight of those “broad stripes and bright
stars” inspired Francis Scott Key to write a song that
eventually became the United States national anthem.
The flag, the “Star Spangled Banner”, had 15 stars
and 15 stripes, repesenting the thirteen original
colonies and the next two states to join the Union,
Kentucky and Vermont
Last Month's Guest Speaker
Chief Master Sergeant
D.M. Maucieri to Retire
Gray Eagle, Bob Vaughan, talked about a forty
year aviation career. He spent a year in Korea as
a Crew Chief in VMF 111, a fighter bomber
squadron. Then he attended Montana State
University on the GI Bill, off to the Air Force flying
school as a 2nd Lt. His first assignment was as
Copilot on a KC-135. Next an assignment in a C123 in Vietnam, then back to C-135's as a
garbage hauler, mostly to Vietnam. Bob then was
a Rescue Helicopter pilot in Vietnam. Finally, Bob
flew weather reconnaissance in a WC-135
Air Force Chief Master Sargeant Daniel Maucieri, son
of Lou and Mary, grew up on Art Parkway in
Sacramento in the 1970s. He is now retiring after 30+
yrs service. He attained the highest enlisted rank of
USAF Chief MSgt in 2008. He was posted at five U.S.
and four overseas bases and earned the Bronze Star
in Afganistan in 2012. Dan's next orders sent him and
his wife, Lynn, to Kadena AB, Okinawa Japan. He was
assigned Superintendent of the 18th Maintenance
Group - the largest in the Air Force, and is responsible
for 2400 personnel.
before retiring from the Air Force at McClellan
AFB in 1975. Bob then instructed at Executive
Airport for a couple years. Bob then signed on to
fly 707-320C's with Trans Mediterranean Airlines,
where he flew cargo on two round the world
routes. Bob then signed on with Pacific Express
Airways of Chico CA, and then with America West
Airlines in Phoenix In 1990, Bob retired and
came back to Sacramento. “As you see, I just
could never hold a job for long!” said Bob.
Bob Vaughn is also an author using the pen
name of Bruce Vaughan.
Thank you Bob for the great presentation.
Chief Master Sergeant Daniel Maucieri (right)
Did You Know ?
Dan Maucieri played Little League and delivered
newspapers on his bike in Parkway neighborhood of
McClellan Air Force Base was named after Major
Hezekiah McClellan (1894–1936) on 1 December
1939, a pioneer in arctic aeronautical tests. He
died on 25 May 1936 when his Consolidated P-30
which he was flight testing, crashed near
Centerville, Ohio.
Sacramento. He attended St. Patrick School on
Franklin Blvd. and Christian Brothers H.S. Dan earned
his B.Sc. degree while he and Lynn were raising five
daughters at Sheppard AFB , Texas.
Hand Salute and welcome home to
all our military veterans!
The base was originally called the Pacific Air
Depot when construction began in 1935. In 1938
the base was renamed Sacramento Air Depot
before being renamed in honor of Major
McClellan.
In March 1942 Lieutenant Colonel Jimmy
Doolittle's B-25s arrived at McClellan for arming in
preparation for their famous Tokyo raid.
The United States Air Force Celebrates Its 67th Birthday
The United States Air Force (USAF) turned 67 yearsold last month. On September 18, 1947, Chief Justice
Fred Vinson swore in Stuart Symington as the first
Secretary of the Air Force, officially founding a new
branch of the U.S. military. Gen. Carl A. Spaatz became
the USAF’s first chief of staff eight days later on
September 26, 1947.
The origins of the USAF lie in a decision made just four
years after the Wright Brothers conducted the world’s
first airplane flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
In 1907, the U.S. Army Signal Corps created an
Aeronautical Division and put it in “charge of all matters
pertaining to military ballooning, air machines and all
kindred subjects.” As aviation technology improved, the
army’s air force grew bigger. An independent military
arm became virtually inevitable after the Army Air
Forces became an autonomous U.S. Army Command
in 1942, and then, grew substantially throughout the
remainder of World War II.
On July 26, 1947, President Harry Truman signed the
National Security Act of 1947 on board the presidential
aircraft, the Sacred Cow, and set the creation of the
USAF in motion.
U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds F-16 fighters perform a fly-over.
(Joe Skipper / Reuters)
by James M. Lindsay
Symbols of a New Nation
The American flag did not play a major role in the War
of Independence. Most of the myths about the flag’s
importance during the Revolution—including the
famous tale of Betsy Ross sewing the first flag for
General Washington—emerged much later, after the
Star-Spangled Banner had become the nation’s most
significant and cherished icon. At the time the American
flag was created, it did not attract much attention from
the general public; its primary function was to identify
ships and forts. Ordinary Americans in the
Revolutionary era turned to a variety of other symbols
—the eagle, Lady liberty, George Washington— to
express their patriotism and define their national
identity.
This would start to change during the War of 1812.
Often referred to as the “Second War of
Independence,” the conflict inspired a fresh wave of
patriotism in a generation too young to remember the
Revolution. When Key declared that “our flag was still
there,” he fused the physical symbol of the nation with
universal feelings of patriotism, courage, and resilience.
By giving the flag a starring role in one of the most
celebrated victories of the war, Francis Scott Key’s song
established a new prominence for the flag as an
expression of national identity, unity, and pride. And by
giving it a name—that Star-Spangled Banner—Key
transformed the official emblem into something familiar
and evocative, a symbol that Americans could connect
with and claim as their own. The flag was no longer just
an emblem of the nation; it became a representation of
the country’s values and the ideals for which it stands.
In the years since 1814, in times of celebration and
crisis, pride and protest, people have raised the flag to
express their ideas about what it means to be American.
Upcoming Events
Elk Grove Veterans Day Parade
Date: November
11, 2014
Location: Elk Grove,CA
The Gray Eagles plan to participate in the 14th annual
Elk Grove Veteran's Day Parade. Details coming soon.
Details will be in the next newsletter.
The Gray Eagles
23rd Annual Holiday Banquet
Date: December
17, 2014
Location: Dante Club, Sacramento, CA
The Gray Eagles 23rd Annual Holiday Banquet will be
held on Wednesday, December 17, 2014 at the Dante
Club. The afternoon banquet will include sit down
lunch, music, awards, and door prizes. Mark your
calendar. More details coming soon.
A Wing and a Prayer
“Comin’ in on a Wing and a Prayer” was a popular
– sometimes all too real – saying in World War II.
But this riveting phrase didn’t come from the 1944
motion picture Wing and a Prayer, which starred
Don Ameche and Dana Andrews in the story of an
aircraft carrier pilot in the Pacific. It was coined
instead to describe the harrowing return flight of
the "All American," a B-17 that had had its tail
section all but torn off during a bombing mission
over North Africa in early 1943.
The result of the B-17 "All American" midair
collision with a Messerschmitt Bf 109
The All American was assigned to the 97th
it descended. The fighter that was attacking the “All
Bombardment
U.S.
American,” head-on and guns blazing, began a roll
Eighth Air Force, based near Beskra, Algeria.
to pull away, but halfway through the maneuver,
Flying from a base near Beskra, an oasis city in
gunfire from either “All American” or the lead
the Sahara Desert in north-central Algeria, the
bomber must have killed or incapacitated the fighter
414th’s
pilot and the plane never completed the collision-
Group,
missions
in
414th
early
Squadron,
1943
targeted
Mediterranean seaports at Bizerte and Tunis,
avoiding
Tunisia.
16-victory ace Erich Paczia of I/JG 53.
On February 1, 1943, the All American was part of
a formation of bombers attacking the Germancontrolled
seaport.
Braving
heavy
flak
and
German fighters on the way in, the “All American”
and her crew managed to drop their bombs and
were on their way back to base. While returning
home, enemy fighters pursued the bomber group
to their maximum range. After the main attack had
ended, two more Messerschmitts bf 109 fighters
appeared and came in for the attack.
maneuver.
The
German
pilot
was
The fighter passed over ‘All American,” to say with
inches to spare would be inaccurate as the plane
tore a significant hole in the rear of the fuselage and
removed the left horizontal stabilizer. The remaining
parts of the tail section, the vertical and right
stabilizer seemed like they could shake loose at any
moment. Miraculously, none of the B-17's crew were
injured and the men all donned their parachutes,
ready to abandon the plane should the tail break off.
The other crews in the formation, seeing that the B17 was crippled, but remaining aloft, slowed to a
speed the injured bird could maintain and formed a
formation around her until they were out from
enemy territory. Once the formation was outside of
the maximum range for the German fighter planes,
the rest of the formation went on ahead and “All
American” limped on alone. The Flying Fortress
landed safely, though without her tail wheel.
One of the fighters went straight for the nose of
the lead bomber of the formation and the other
came for the nose of “All American.” The crew of
“All American” fired at the plane coming for them
from their nose turret while firing at the fighter
heading for the lead bomber from the right side
nose gun. Between the fire of All American and the
lead bomber, the fighter going after that plane was
disabled and sent down, smoke pouring from it as
The B-17F was given a new tail and flew on mainly
as a hack aircraft until March 1945. The 414th
bomber squadron adopted a version of this image
with a puppy praying atop the rear fuselage as a
unit badge.
The Aviation History On-Line Museum.
B-17 “All American”
(414th Squadron, 97BG) Crew:
Pilot- Ken Bragg Jr.
Copilot- G. Boyd Jr.
Navigator- Harry C. Nuessle
Bombardier- Ralph Burbridge
Engineer- Joe C. James
Radio Operator- Paul A. Galloway
Ball Turret Gunner- Elton Conda
Waist Gunner- Michael Zuk
Tail Gunner- Sam T. Sarpolus
Ground Crew Chief- Hank Hyland
Specifications (B-17G)
General characteristics
• Crew: 10: Pilot, co-pilot, navigator,
bombardier/nose gunner, flight engineer/top turret
gunner, radio operator, waist gunners (2), ball turret
gunner, tail gunner
Length: 74 ft 4 in (22.66 m)
Wingspan: 103 ft 9 in (31.62 m)
Height: 19 ft 1 in (5.82 m)
Wing area: 1,420 sq ft (131.92 m2)
Airfoil: NACA 0018 / NACA 0010
Aspect ratio: 7.57
Empty weight: 36,135 lb (16,391 kg)
Loaded weight: 54,000 lb (24,500 kg)
Max. takeoff weight: 65,500 lb (29,700
kg)
• Powerplant: 4 × Wright R-1820-97
"Cyclone" turbosupercharged radial
engines, 1,200 hp (895 kW) each
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Armament
• Guns: 13 × .50 in (12.7 mm) M2 Browning
machine guns in 8 positions (2 in the Bendix
chin turret, 2 on nose cheeks, two staggered
waist guns, 2 in upper Sperry turret, 2 in
Sperry ball turret in belly, 2 in the tail and
one in the nose)
• Bombs:
• Short range missions (<400 mi):
8,000 lb (3,600 kg)
• Long range missions (≈800 mi):
4,500 lb (2,000 kg)
• Overload: 17,600 lb (7,800 kg)
Performance
• Maximum speed: 287 mph (249 kn, 462
km/h)
• Cruise speed: 182 mph (158 kn, 293 km/h)
• Range: 2,000 mi (1,738 nmi, 3,219 km)
with 2,700 kg (6,000 lb) bombload
• Service ceiling: 35,600 ft (10,850 m)
• Rate of climb: 900 ft/min (4.6 m/s)
• Wing loading: 38.0 lb/sq ft (185.7 kg/m2)
• Power/mass: 0.089 hp/lb (150 W/kg)
CLICK HERE TO SEE AMAZING
SPHERICAL PANORAMA IMAGES OF THE
B-17 Nine-O-Nines.
The Collings Foundation B-17G flying in the colours
Courtesy of i-ota Panometrics Technical Imaging.
www.i-ota.net
1st Combat Bomb Wing tail markings
of Nine-O-Nine, 323rd BS B-17G, displaying